Institute

Founded in 1994, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin is one of the more than 80 research institutes administered by the Max Planck Society. It is dedicated to the study of the history of science and aims to understand scientific thinking and practice as historical phenomena.

People

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science comprises scholars across all Departments and Research Groups, as well as an Administration team, IT Support, Research IT Group, and Research Coordination and Communications team.

Publications & Resources

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) engages with the research community and broader public, and is committed to open access.

This section provides access to published research results and electronic sources in the history of science. It is also a platform for sharing ongoing research projects that develop digital tools.

Researchers at the Institute benefit from an internal Library service. The Institute’s research is also made accessible to the wider public through edited Feature Stories and the Mediathek’s audio and video content.

News & Events

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science frequently shares news, including calls for papers and career opportunities. The Media & Press section highlights press releases and the Institute's appearances in national and global media. Public events—including colloquia, seminars, and workshops—are shown on the events overview.

Esther Chen

Head of Library

Esther Chen studied comparative literature and Polish language and literature at the Free University and the Humboldt University in Berlin. Parallel to her studies she worked in the Literaturhandlung zum Judentum (Bookshop for Judaica), where she was responsible for organising cultural events.

After completing her studies she taught at the Institute for Slavic Studies at the Humboldt University and participated in the project entitled "Comparisons and interconnections within European scientific cultures" at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt an der Oder, before carrying out training for academic librarianship at the Central and Regional Library in Berlin. From 2011–2012 she worked as an academic assistant for the German parliamentary committee of enquiry into "Internet and digital society."

Before taking up her most recent post at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Esther Chen worked at the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research as chief librarian from 2012–2015.